EXPERIENCE THE FLEMISH MASTERS PROGRAMME 2018 - 2020 1 THE FLEMISH MASTERS 2018-2020 AT THE PINNACLE OF ARTISTIC INVENTION FROM THE MIDDLE AGES ONWARDS, FLANDERS WAS THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE FAMOUS ART MOVEMENTS OF THE TIME: PRIMITIVE, RENAISSANCE AND BAROQUE. FOR A PERIOD OF SOME 250 YEARS, IT WAS THE PLACE TO MEET AND EXPERIENCE SOME OF THE MOST ADMIRED ARTISTS IN WESTERN EUROPE. THREE PRACTITIONERS IN PARTICULAR, VAN EYCK, BRUEGEL AND RUBENS ROSE TO PROMINENCE DURING THIS TIME AND CEMENTED THEIR PLACE IN THE PANTHEON OF ALL-TIME GREATEST MASTERS. The contents of this brochure may be subject to change. For up-to-date information: check www.visitflanders.com/flemishmasters. 2 3 BRUGES ANTWERP GHENT MECHELEN BRUSSELS LEUVEN Germany FLANDERS WAS THEN A MELTING POT OF ART AND CREATIVITY, SCIENCE AND INVENTION, AND STILL TODAY IS A REGION THAT BUSTLES WITH VITALITY AND INNOVATION. The “Flemish Masters” project has THE FLEMISH MASTERS been established for the inquisitive PROJECT 2018-2020 traveller who enjoys learning about others as much as about him or The Flemish Masters project focuses Significant infrastructure herself. It is intended for those on the life and legacies of van Eyck, investments in tourism and culture who, like the Flemish Masters in Bruegel and Rubens active during are being made throughout baroque heritage in several 2. In 2019 there will be numerous 3. After its painstaking restoration their time, are looking to immerse th th th the 15 , 16 and 17 centuries, as well Flanders in order to deliver an cultural disciplines and a series events in Brussels, Antwerp the magnificent Ghent themselves in new cultures and new as many other notable artists of the optimal visitor experience. In of events and exhibitions, and all over Flanders, marking Altarpiece will return to the insights. time. addition, a programme of high- culminating the re-opening the 450th anniversary of St Bavo’s Cathedral in 2020. quality events and exhibitions of the Royal Museum of Fine Bruegel’s death in 1569. Merely the latest in a long line From 2018 through to 2020, Many of the works by these original with international appeal will be Arts Antwerp in 2019 and of restorations, the last one was VISITFLANDERS is hosting an Flemish Masters can be admired all organised throughout 2018, 2019 the opening of the Rubens In spring 2019, Bruegel will carried out in the early 1950s, abundance of activities and events over the world but there is no doubt and 2020. Experience Center in 2020. be omnipresent in Brussels, this one is certainly the most that will entice visitors from all over that the experience is truer and as the city will honour its remarkable and impressive of the world to come and explore the more powerful when they are seen in THERE ARE THREE MUST-SEE The museum is not only a former inhabitant with several them all. Flemish Masters and their works Flanders, where the art works were HIGHLIGHTS: true Rubens’ treasure trove, exquisite exhibitions and a and will leave them inspired and created. On a visit to Flanders visitors but it also houses some of the city-wide programme of events. enriched by the experience. can walk through the actual house 1. In 2018 the city of Antwerp will finest Flemish Primitive’s art Autumn 2019 will bring Bruegel where Rubens lived and worked, see celebrate its baroque cultural including Jan van Eyck’s Saint to Antwerp, where the newly the landscapes that inspired Pieter heritage and the baroque Barbara and Madonna at the refurbished museum of Fine Bruegel the Elder, and discover an lifestyle that is undeniably part Fountain and Rogier van der Arts Antwerp opens with a original painting by van Eyck in of the city’s DNA. ‘Antwerp Weyden’s Seven Sacraments must-see exhibition: ‘BRUEGEL’S the exact location depicted in the Baroque 2018. Rubens inspires’ Altarpiece. Booming Antwerp’ painted scene. will connect Rubens with his 4 5 FLEMISH MASTERS PROGRAMME 2018 - 2020 2020 THE GHENT ALTARPIECE IS COMING HOME p. 41 2018-20 2018-2020 TRAVEL WITH BRUGES, HOMETOWN RUBENS TO HIS OF THE FLEMISH HOMETOWN PRIMITIVES ANTWERP p. 47 p. 9 DISCOVER THE FLEMISH MASTERS OFF THE 2019 BEATEN TRACK EXPERIENCE THE p. 53 WORLD OF BRUEGEL p. 27 6 7 PETER PAUL RUBENS IS MOSTLY KNOWN AS A SUCCESSFUL ARTIST, BUT HE WAS ALSO AN ESTEEMED DIPLOMAT, POLYGLOT AND COLLECTOR. HE IS ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS INHABITANTS OF ANTWERP. HIS BRILLIANCE LIVES ON AND HE IS STILL VERY MUCH PART OF THE CITY, AND NOT ONLY IN ITS BAROQUE PAINTINGS AND ARCHITECTURE. RUBENS IS A GREAT INSPIRATION FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS AND THE A-TYPICAL WAY OF LIFE OF THE CITY AND ITS INHABITANTS. 8 9 A STELLAR TALENT and Jacob Jordaens. The studio produced hundreds of Rubens was born in 1577 creations and paintings, many in Siegen (in present-day specifically to order. Germany), but soon moved to Antwerp with his mother after his father died when A DIPLOMATIC CAREER he was young. It was there that he learnt to paint, taking A favourite of Archduchess instruction from artists such Isabella, Rubens became as Tobias Verhaecht, Adam increasingly involved in van Noort and Otto van Veen. diplomatic missions on her behalf. It was he who In 1600, he travelled to finally brokered a peace Rome and Venice in Italy, deal between Spain and and then later to Spain. It England, a move that would was clear even then that he eventually lead to a cessation was no ordinary talent as of hostilities between the he soon began to receive Spanish and the Dutch, close Royal commissions from both allies of the English. courts. Rubens was a highly esteemed court guest all RUBENS HOUSE over Europe with many AND WORK STUDIOS contemporaries considering him as skilled a diplomat as In 1608, he returned to he was a painter. He was Antwerp as the official court by then almost universally painter to the Low Countries, revered as an artist without a title bestowed on him by rival. Archduke Albert of Austria and Isabella of Spain. It was During his travels he at this time that he bought secured many high-profile a house and land on Wapper assignments, including Square - right in the centre commissions such as the of today’s Antwerp - and creation of 24 paintings set about redesigning it celebrating the life of Maria completely. de Medici for the Palais du Luxembourg in Paris. Inspired by the architecture of Roman Antiquity and the Renaissance, Rubens drew up A BAROQUE LEGEND the plans for the renovation himself, and turned an In 1630, Rubens returned ordinary Flemish house into to Flanders for good and a ‘palazzo’. He extended the bought Elewijt Castle outside home considerably adding a Brussels. There he painted studio, a garden pavilion and his largest commission to a domed sculpture museum. date, namely 112 works to There was also a magnificent decorate the Royal Hunting ANTWERP BAROQUE 2018. portico offering a beautiful Lodge in Madrid, the Torre de view of the courtyard garden la Parada. These were finally and the garden pavilion. The finished in 1638 only and were RUBENS INSPIRES result was magnificent. From duly dispatched to Spain. then on, his studio would become a hive of activity Rubens’ health was beginning with many employees and to deteriorate, and he died in Antwerp is the only city in the world to be so permeated in every respect by Peter Paul students, some of who went 1640 aged 62, at his home on Rubens and his baroque legacy. “Antwerp Baroque 2018. Rubens inspires” is an opportunity to to be famous in their own Antwerp’s Wapper Square. experience Rubens and baroque in many intense and unique ways. right, like Anthony van Dyck 10 11 THANKS TO ANTWERP’S AN ANTWERP STATE CULTURAL IDENTITY OF MIND RUBENS, THE Rubens’ house - today one of the The tradition for new and eccentric CONTEMPORARY city’s major museums - is a baroque architecture continues and baroque- classic, and there are still many like buildings are being added I’M JUST A SIMPLE BAROQUE SPIRIT stylish churches in the city from this to Antwerp’s skyline all the time, era. Indeed, many of Antwerp’s great including Richard Rogers’ Court OF ANTWERP contemporary artists continue to House and Zaha Hadid’s Port MAN STANDING ALONE LIVES ON. be inspired by Rubens’ extravagant House - both well worth the visit in baroque tradition, creating an themselves. WITH MY OLD BRUSHES, authentic and distinctive joie de vivre in the city. ASKING GOD FOR The word Baroque is derived from the Portuguese word ‘barocco’ meaning, ‘irregular pearl or stone’. INSPIRATION. This is perhaps the perfect metaphor for Antwerp as it evokes something mysterious, multifaceted and difficult PETER PAUL RUBENS to pin down, while remaining classic and amazingly contemporary at the same time. 12 13 3 1 ANTWERP BAROQUE 2018. RUBENS INSPIRES 2 4 In 2018, the City of Antwerp will pay tribute to Peter Paul Rubens and his baroque, cultural legacy. Rubens is often identified with the Baroque and is an icon for Antwerp. Even today Rubens is an important source of inspiration for contemporary artists and the atypical lifestyle of the city and its 1 \ MAS inhabitants. In his wake, Antwerp artists have continued to innovate, culminating in a certain joie de 2 \ GROENPLAATS 3 \ FRANS SNIJDERS vivre that is typical of our city. The Baroque festival establishes a dialogue between Rubens’s historic 4 \ MUSEUM PLANTIN-MORETUS 5 \ GARDEN AT RUBENS HOUSE Baroque with the work of contemporary Baroque masters, including Jan Fabre and Luc Tuymans.